By Saliou Samb
CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's military junta leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, is out of danger after an operation to treat injuries he sustained in a gun attack by renegade soldiers, a spokesman said Saturday.
"The president is out of danger. The operation succeeded," said Information Minister Idrissa Cherif.
Camara had been evacuated to Morocco on Friday for treatment, fuelling worries of a power vacuum in the world's top producer of aluminium ore bauxite that could touch off heavy fighting among factions in the army.
Cherif said Camara's second-in-command Sekouba Konate -- a seasoned fighter known as 'El Tigre' for his courage on the battlefield -- had temporarily taken over the leadership of the West African country.
"When Dadis is not around, it is natural that Sekouba would take over," Cherif said.
The news came amid soaring tensions in the capital Conakry, where pickup trucks full of heavily armed soldiers searched for suspects in Thursday's botched assassination attempt and resident mostly stayed indoors.
Rising instability in Guinea, which has attracted billions of dollars in investments from major mining companies, is seen as a threat to neighbours Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Liberia, all recovering from civil wars that ended earlier this decade.
Thursday's attack may have stemmed from heavy international pressure on Camara after a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters on September 28 in which human rights groups said 157 people were killed and scores of women raped.
"Camara's attempt to bring those errant soldiers to book triggered the assassination attempt by a leader within the renegade army group, Lieutenant Aboubacar Toumba Diakite," said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, an analyst for Eurasia Group.
Toumba is cited by witnesses as leading the September crackdown on demonstrators, who had gathered in a Conakry stadium to protest against Camara's refusal to opt out of a general election that had been set for January 2010.
Despite initial reports that he had been arrested, Toumba was understood to be at large on Saturday.
Guinea's opposition condemned the incident which it said could delay a transition to civilian rule, and reiterated its call for the junta leadership to step aside.
(Additional reporting and writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Matthew Jones)
